South Korea has sentenced Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison after the Seoul Southern District Court found him guilty of defrauding customers of roughly 70 billion Korean won ($49.2 million) in cryptocurrency assets, local media reported on Aug. 13, 2026.
Judge Jang Chan presided over the case and convicted Jeong on most charges, including embezzlement and using false documents to register Delio as a virtual asset service provider. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison term, but the court imposed 15 years while describing the crime as “extremely grave” given the scale of losses and number of victims.
The court acquitted Jeong on a larger fraud allegation involving roughly 250 billion won ($175.6 million) and about 2,800 people. The judges ruled that evidence obtained through a search and seizure of a server operator had been illegally collected, according to Newsis.
Delio, which marketed itself as a digital asset bank and offered high returns on crypto deposits, suspended withdrawals in June 2023 and was later declared bankrupt in November 2024. The court also ordered Jeong detained, citing flight risk, NoCut News reported.
